Highway department builds roads, mows lawns

The Statens Vegvesen highway department maintains a 100km radius of roads around Oslo. Currently, the department is in the midst of the biggest highway construction projects in Norway's history.

But building and maintaining roads are not its only duties. The department is also responsible for mowing along the shoulders of the road, in the medians and in the rest stops. In 1996, Kaare Hultung, whose responsibility is to purchase machines, put his order in for a Walker mower. Used primarily to mow the smaller rest areas, this machine takes a lot of beating from stones, bottles and other road debris, explains Hultung.

The diesel Walker with a 107-cm mulching deck is used everyday in the summer, tells Hultung. Despite the fact that crews mow high to protect the blades and deck. the unit still takes a lot of beating. "It's a tough machine and a professional machine," he adds.